Shock-absorber.



G.' C. MARTIN. SHOCK 'ABSORBBR. APPLICATION' FILED MAR. 19, 1910.

. 1 053,411 Patented Feb.1s,1913.

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rinTTED sTATEs PATENT oiuivron.y

GEORGE'CUSHING MRTIN, OFgLOS ANGELES., CALIFORNiIA;4

inseam.

sHocKsABsonBEn.

I Specification of Letters Patent.' Patente-3d Feb. 18, 1913;A

appueation ned March i9, 1910. serial No. 550,522.-

To aa'whom it may conce/m: l

Be it known that I MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, re siding atLos Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, havein- Vented lnew and useful Improvements in Shock-Absorbers, of which thefollowing is a specification. Y

, The invention relates particularly to de- -velopmental improvements inmy shock absorber, described vin my application vfor patr ent, filedNov. 4, 1909, Serial No. 526,260;

` forms and includes the parts and combina? tions particularly point-edout in the appended claims.

,y Theaccompanying drawings illustratethe invention in some of the formsin which it maybe constructed and mounted.

/Figure 1 is a slide elevation of the shock absorber mounted betweenavehicle aXle and avehicle frame which is broken and 1s sup-` pbrtedby ahalf elliptical spring, a portion 'ofwhich is broken away to expose apart of .lf-the shock absorber which would otherwise he.' hiddenthereby, this view being taken from the outside of the vehicle. Fig. 2is v to .resist thereoil lof the Spring.-

`a fragmentary vertical section on irregular line me, Figs. 1 and 3,looking toward the right. Fig. 3 is a section on irregular line ma, Fig.2 looking toward the left. The parts are shown in locked position, withthe shoes exerting maximum pressure against the ring. Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectional detail showing the-position of parts of the shock,

absorber in unlocked position, In Figs: 1 and 8, feathered arrowsindicate relative iovement of parts for effecting the grip,

and in Figs. 1 and 4 unfeathered arrowssin' dicate` relative movementsof parts for effecting the` grip to lock GEORGE CUsHn-vek advantages mayappear the `shock absorber Fig. 5 lis-z a fragmentary'sectional' detailon line ai, Fig. ,1. Fig. 6 1s an enlarged sectional view -of theslotted adjusting block looking'at the shallow ends ofthe slots. Fig. 7is lan elevation of Fig. 6, a portion being broken away at one side toshow one of the slots in profile.

In the drawings/ is the axle, S the veyhicle spring and F the vehicleframe;

- The invention comprises two principal coaxial' members or elements,which are relatively rotatable and may be constructed of one or'morepieces as desired, one element constituting an annular shell or ring 1,and

the other element comprising a centrally'.

chainbered radially slotted spider' core 2 integral with a head 3 andfastened to another I head 4 by bolts 5, so that the core and the two'heads together form -a unit. In the preferred form as shown in'Figs. 2,3 and 4, the' core 2 h'as. acylindrical chamberv 6 which can be readilybored out the inclosing circumferential wall 7 of which has a number of.slots 8 cut through it to accommodate gibs 9 adapted to be engaged andsupported by a lcylindrical adjusting- .block or wedge 10 that fits andforms within the chamber al I central support by which the thrust forbausing frictional pressure of the shoes is borne, and that is carriedinside the chamber 6 by an adjust-ing screw 11, the head 0f' which restsexternally against head14. The

wedge 10 is a cylindrical nut having in its perimeter longitudinalgrooves 12, the iioors of which converge l`lengthwise to form wedgingseats for the wedge-shaped gibs 9, which` ythus key the wedge 10 to .thecore 2 and prevent the wedge from turning in the corel while allowing itto move endwise. The wedge 10 has a radial longitudinal slit 13 formedby a saw cut to make it elastic, thus binding upon and locking the screw11; the nutbeing of resilient material and thehinding eectbeingincreased by radial pressure through the gibs 9 in the practicaloperation hereinafter described. Each of the gibs 9 has `a concave seat14 inits outer face .to receive the convex inner edge of toggle-bars 15,which are thus pivotally connected to the gibs 9.

The core 2 is .externally lrecessed to form '--a number of radial arms16, between which and the toggle-bars4 15 are interposed helical tensionsprings 17, that tend to yieldingly hold the-toggle-bars 15 in radialpositions.

he tegels-bars laf thrust against the cen-',

. ters of fiat springs 18, which aresupported be cut on either sideofthe arms` by the shoes only at their. ends andhave central perforations19 to loosely accommodate bosses 20 on the outer -ends of the togglebars15, and to holdthe bars and springs in pivot-al relation. seated inseats 21 within floating segmental friction or'brake shoes 22, andafford `re silient articulation of the shoes -22 .with their respectivetoggle-bars 15, 'thus providingre` silient toggle-joints. The slots 8are cut radially ofthe axis of the core 2 and imay 16, thus providingeither left band or right hand mechanism, (see Fig. 3,) in orderthat the.parts may be applied to either end ofthe vehicleaXle.

The friction shoes 22 accurately lit the in side annular frictionsurface'23 of the annular shell 1 and ,may be of any desired number andare preferably arranged in opposition with each other around the axis ofrotation, so that -thepressure of the shoes -22 against' the innerannular friction surface 23 of the shell 1 may be equalized around saidaxis'. The pressure of the friction shoes 22 upon the shell 1 is at amaximum when the toggle bars 15 are in radial position, as seen in Fig.3. Through the action of the tension springs 18, 'the l'shoes areconstantly' in frictional engagement with the ring 1 and theamountoffriction 'deponds upon the degree of angularity ofthe toggle jointbetween the gib and' the. shoe; the friction being greatest when thetoggle bar is in radial position relative to the axis of the core. Theconcave faces 14 of the gibs are in alinement -at one side' with theabutting faces of the radial arms of the core so that the toggle barsmay 'lie flat against the nearly radial faces of s uch arms, thus toreach radial position. The `amountl of the pressure thus resisted willdepend upon t-he `-strength and tension of the shoe springs 18.

veo

The relative rotation of the core in the direction of the featheredarrow ,in- Figs. 1 and 3 tends to move the inner end of the toggle-barin the direction of said arrows while the friction of the shoes 22 onthering l1 holds said shoes stationary with said ring; `and the tendency ofsaid rotation is to force the toggle-bars into radial position, thetoggle springs 18 yield sufficiently to this presysure to allow thetoggle-bars to go into radial position, andthe arms 16 of the co-re pre-4vent the-tqggle-bars from passing beyond such radial position, thusmaintaining maximumfriction betweenthe shoes 22 and the inner surface ofring 1, and frictionally locking the ring 1 through the medium of theshoes 22, toggle vjoints 18 and 15, the gibs 9 and wedgesflO, to thecore 2 And a" further relative rotation of vthe core in` the directionindicatedmust overcome the friction thus established between the ringThesprings 18 are.`

3"shows the position assumed by land the shoes-22;'the objectbeing-tthua lessen 'ghe recoil effect of thc vehicle spring".

The releasing operation is as fo11ows: A relative rotation of the corein the direction opposite from that indicatedl by the' feat-l thefrictional device by moving the inner end of the toggle bar in saidopposite direc-l tion. l

The floating shoes 22 being infrictional engagement withfring 1 prevent.theouter end of the togglebar from rotatingrela tively with the innerend; thus throwing the toggle-bar out of radial position unt-i1 itreaches the point where the friction between the shoes 22 and the ring 1is insuilicientl to force the shoes to revolve with the inner surface ofthe ring 1, thus offering compara` tively no resistance to the vehicleframe and axle to approach eachi, other when the wheels of thevehiclearef passing over an obstruction in the road.` It is understoodthat in usual practice' the ve` iered arrow releases the toggle jointand tendency of the asl hicle axle will be driven up frein time to timewith more or less abruptness, and frequency depending on the speed ofthe .vehicle as the vehicle passes vover obstructions' or anyinequalities in 'the road. The positionfor maximum resistance is shownin Fig. 3 while Fig. 4 shows the toggle-bar tipped outof radial positioninto a .releasing position resulting from the approach of the vehicleaxle and body as in the case of the wheel going over an obstruction.

the parts to resist the recoil of the vehicle spring.

Motion may be imparted to the rotatable members by a great variety ofstructural deyices so that either one of said members may be rotatedalone or both may be rotated in' opposite directions relatively to eachother. ln the drawings complementary arms 24, 24 are at one end integralwith their respective heads 3, 4, and are 'pivotally connected atl theother end by a bolt 26 to-a connecting rod-27 which extends up and isbolted to the vehicle body,`frame, or chassis F by a bolt 29, This isillustrated in Figs.' 1, 2, 3. and with 4such arrangement the shell lmayhave' an upper clamping member 30 integral with it and bolted to a lowerclamping member 3 1 by bolts 32, the said clamping members-y vholding -aportion of the vehicle axle A 'tightly between them.

In case the core is ixed, the shell'l, carry- -i'ng with it shoes 22 isrotated in one direction, the pressure of shoes 22 againstshel'l 1 lisrelieved by-reason of the outer ends .of

the toggle-bars 15 being carried out of radial. position; and thelreleasing' ef-A fect is the same as before described. A

comparatively slight reverse. rotation of" shell' 1 that coincides withthe initial movement of the vehicle spring when resuming its normallyexpanded position, returns togsef f0rth,fishe cylindrical-nut vhavingits `-'.eter thevlongitudinai groei/'ee 12 the oors .of which convergelengthwise to form 'wedgil'lg seats substantially as seiJ forth.v

. 10. In a shock absorber of the character set forth, the cylindricalnut having in its `perimeter the longitudinal grooves`12 the vfloors of4which converge lengthwise to forml Wedging seats'snbstantilly assetforth, said nuff Abeing Slotted to. allow it to be Ycompressed upo theadjusting screwA of said shock absorber. l Y Y In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set'my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 12th day ofMarch, 191Q.

" GEO.. CUSHING MARTIN.

` In presence of- JAMES R. TowNsnrm, L. BELLE RICE.

